Changes to parks legislation loaded with potential perils

Those intending to visit any of the 650 national parks potentially open to shooters from March would be well advised to wear bright colours and keep their heads down (''Hunt fury may trigger park disruptions'', December 27).

The leaked risk assessment rates the danger of visitors and staff being shot as ''major and the likelihood as possible'' but Barry O'Farrell must see a greater risk in any attempt to renege on his deal with the Shooters and Fishers Party. There will be no extra money or staff allocated to monitor shooting and the fact that the Game Council will oversee the licence system will add to feelings of insecurity.

The public should both sympathise with National Parks and Wildlife staff and applaud the public servants who produced the risk assessment. It requires professional integrity to impugn a premier's done deal. Oscar Wilde described fox hunting as the ''unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible'' but at least with fox hunting the only collateral damage was to farmers' fields.

James Moore Kingsgrove

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I would place a large wager on the proposition that Barry O'Farrell will not allow hunting in his local national park, Ku-ring-gai. Too close to home.

The government needs to give serious consideration to renaming the affected parks "hunting reserves" so that those of us who enjoy a good bushwalk are not fearful of wandering into the sights of an amateur gun enthusiast intent on capping his or her trophy for the day.

Mr O'Farrell, what happened to the "contract with the citizens of NSW"? Did it have a sunset clause of six months?

Kate Barton Glebe

What will it take for Barry O'Farrell to reconsider his decision to allow recreational hunting in our national parks? One stray bullet that kills a student participating in a Duke of Edinburgh Award hike?

No one will ever again feel relaxed while walking, motoring or camping in our national parks knowing recreational shooters can legally roam through the parks hunting feral animals.

Nan Howard Camden

A very simple New Year's resolution for the Premier, the Minister for the Environment and the leadership of the shooters' party: following the first shooting death in a NSW national park these politicians will attend the funeral and then repeal the legislation at the first opportunity in the Parliament.

John Abercrombie Muswellbrook

Will the police be charging Barry O'Farrell with being an accessory after the fact when the first park ranger or bushwalker is shot by a ''sporting shooter'' in one of our national parks?

Katriona Herborn Blackheath

I was under the impression national parks were for the protection of flora and fauna, wildlife in other words, which is why weapons, dogs and cats aren't allowed in. So perhaps the government can explain to me how, by contradicting the very purpose of the parks and allowing shooters free rein, wildlife will not suffer.

To expect us to believe that only the odd feral animal will be brought down or that the odd bushwalker or birdwatcher won't be accidentally shot is an insult to intelligence.

The concept of the government pandering to a shooters' party to gain votes is akin to a streetwalker drumming up business.

Brian Wood Port Macquarie

Police chief's compassion must extend to the victims

It is good to read of the Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione's sadness and deep concern at the death of police officers and the harmful effects of alcohol-related crime. (''Booze, guns and the loss of two good men'', December 27). I share his concern at such a tragic loss.

I would, however, like to see him as passionate and determined to end deaths and suffering arising from thuggish, cowardly and criminal activity by members of his police force and inappropriate investigation of such behaviour.

I would like to see him announce publicly that all the police shown on video to have bashed an unarmed man at Ballina police station will be stood down until a full inquiry has been held.

I would like him to express his determination to ensure that the gut-wrenching behaviour of the police involved in the death of the Brazilian student Roberto Laudisio Curti will never happen again.

I would like him to announce that all Tasers will be withdrawn from general duties police until a retraining program and new regulations and procedures have been implemented.

I would also like him to announce publicly that when police shoot people, such incidents will be investigated in an independent process, rather than by police, as happens in so many other jurisdictions.

Mr Scipione's compassion for the members of the NSW Police Force is important and commendable but similar compassion should also be shown to the victims of police misconduct.

Cameron Murphy President, NSW Council for Civil Liberties

Yachties know rules - club decision was correct

As skipper of the yacht Siena, I was a survivor of the fatal 1998 Sydney to Hobart race, Australia's worst sporting disaster. At the time, I was also a severe public critic of Cruising Yacht Club of Australia race management. I wish now to defend the present race committee and commodore for insisting notice of race documents be fully complied with by all yachts, even if a big-budget yacht is excluded (''Sunk by paperwork: fleet sets sail one boat short'', December 27).

These volunteer organisers were charged by the coroner to impose high safety and entry standards on all participants.

Just because one rancorous blowhard didn't prepare his boat fully by the well-advertised date is no reason to unfairly malign organisers. Sadly, this is yet another example of trying to shift blame in the modern way. The simple and seamanlike solution is ''be prepared''.

Meanwhile, and far more importantly, we wish fair winds and safe passage to Hobart to all the conforming, well-prepared race entrants.

Iain Moray Mosman

Steve Barrett (Letters, December 27) would rather watch grass grow than follow the Sydney to Hobart yachts. I guess he's a cricket fan, then.

Randi Svensen Leura

Steve Barrett, as the owner and operator of a lawnmowing business I'd also rather watch grass grow. It usually means business is booming.

Michael Deeth Como West

Get airport flying

The delay on investing in critical infrastructure in NSW is inexcusable when both options of Badgerys Creek and Wilton seem perfectly good, especially if they are also accompanied by high-speed rail and tax incentives for local business and industries to set up around the new corridor (''Western suburbs grounded by politics of Badgerys Creek'', December 27). For instance, if the airport is in Wilton, there could be scope for developing Wollongong as an IT incubation hub leveraging the university. Why couldn't this be Sydney's new ''Silicon Surf City''?

There needs to be more imagination on behalf of government but most critically there needs to be action, which is what we pay our politicians for. Further exploring Barry O'Farrell's white-elephant option of Canberra serves the electorate of NSW no good at all.

Stephen Bowhill Clontarf

TAFE just another O'Farrell casualty

Hear, hear, Elizabeth Farrelly (''The colour of money is ruining art'', December 27). I've watched a good friend of mine turn his TAFE course on costume design into a career that has seen him work on musicals such as Billy Elliot and Priscilla: Queen of the Desert. I've met people displaced from the school system by broken homes who've used TAFE as a way to rejoin productive society. And, most importantly, I've seen the unique quality of an institution that can attract professionals to teach people regardless of their income or background.

Now the O'Farrell government would like us to believe that by axing courses, cutting funding and opening it up to the jackals of the free market that TAFE will somehow be improved. I hope the next generation of accountants TAFE breeds will be better than the ones that missed the billion-dollar surplus in the state budget.

Joshua Cole Keiraville

Well said, Elizabeth Farrelly. The thriving arts economy and cultural diversity of Sydney's inner west and other places owes a significant debt to many TAFE-trained arts students of all ages and demographic backgrounds. They, individually and collectively, have often been at the forefront of new ventures and community arts facilities and programs that have lifted the financial and social capital of local areas such as Marrickville, Leichhardt, Parramatta and Fairfield.

For those vulnerable boarding house residents and other disadvantaged groups who traditionally use TAFE, whether in arts or other courses, as a reliable vehicle on the road to independence, the O'Farrell reforms will close a key opportunity.

Cost cutting and the obsession with markets will lead to cost shifting to the Commonwealth as more dependence is foisted onto those at the margins of our communities

Gary Moore Leichhardt

Green targets

Pleased to hear the Greens are ditching policy minutia on things like tax rates and health rebates; are these really small ''g'' green, i.e., environmental, issues, anyway (''Greens go mainstream with policy rework'', December 27)?

But where is the Greens' policy detail on truly small ''g'' green issues? For example, population is a Greens policy-free zone with waffle about sustainability but no detail or numbers. What do the Greens think the target population of Australia should be? Would the Greens continue Australia's long-term bipartisan policy of actively encouraging population increase via immigration?

I, and the wildlife displaced by housing developments, would like to know.

Greg James Queens Park

Liberal with truth

That's it! I've had it up to my rapidly receding hairline with the likes of George Fishman (Letters, December 27) attacking the Labor government for so-called ''profligacy'' and for having created a ''financial mess''.

I realise these critics are averse to allowing facts to get in the way of a good theory but let's throw a few of them out there, shall we?

Government spending as a proportion of gross domestic product is lower now than under the Howard government. Taxation receipts as a proportion of GDP are lower now than under the Howard government. The unemployment rate is lower now than the average under the Howard government. Interest rates are lower now than under the Howard government.

These are just a few of the salient facts, so would it be too much to ask Fishman and his ilk to present similar supporting facts when they make these wildly emotive and inaccurate claims about the Australian economy and the present government?

Colin Kennedy West Pymble

Religious failings

Buddism in Burma may well be just a matter of convenience and spin, as Mukul Desai observed (Letters, December 27), just as Christianity is in Australia, considering we treat asylum seekers punitively rather than with Christ's welcoming compassion.

Norrie May-Welby Redfern

Change a must for cricket to lure

Michael Kennedy (Letters, December 27) has misread the pitch. Sticky wickets were addressed by a change to tradition that brought in the innovation of covered pitches. He has missed the subtlety that it is change, not tradition, that is the norm in cricket.

The Boxing Day Test is now a ''tradition'' because in recent collective memory it is said to be so (despite its origin dating only to the 1970s). In 1965 when young Kennedy was perhaps a spritely nine-year-old, he grew to love the game. For Kennedy to enjoy the current Boxing Day Test, the game needed to appeal to spritely nine-year-olds like Jackson Bird about the turn of the millennium. For all of us to be able to enjoy the test of willow and leather in 2025, it is the allure of the game to today's nine-year-olds that matters.

The game must continue to capture the hearts and imagination of all those unnamed children who were lucky enough to be at the MCG on Wednesday or who were watching, listening and dreaming around the country.

Without change, the Boxing Day Test will be but a memory in the archives. A bit of frenzy is a small price to pay. I look forward to joining the legion of old tragics who will be at and listening to the Sydney Test and remembering that once we were young, too.

Grant Gleeson Nowra

Pass the vitriol

So the Queen didn't mention Australia personally in her Christmas message (Letters, December 27)?

Perhaps then she sees the Commonwealth as a family: does everyone need to be mentioned by name when mum or dad says anything about anything? This year she began with thanking us (the Commonwealth) for celebrating her long reign.

Isn't her message also a personal reflection on the year just past, and one of hope for a better world for everyone?

Pass the vitriol, this must be Australia. For goodness' sake, what next to whinge about?

Give birds wings

A wire aviary - no matter how large - is a poor substitute for the vast rainforests of South America.

Depriving any bird of its freedom is cruel but to condemn long-living birds, such as macaws, to up to 100 years of imprisonment should be regarded as a wilful act of animal cruelty.

Birds are not human playthings. They are intelligent, sensitive creatures that have as much right to freedom and happiness as we do.

Jenny Moxham Monbulk (Vic)

Thigh interest

Who cares about the Bupa heart rate for Test cricketers as shown on Channel Nine? I'm more interested in Michael Clarke meeting a younger version of himself with a healthier thigh muscle.

Peter Lloyd Asquith

Vicious circle

A Yemeni farmer told The Washington Post: ''If I am sure the Americans are the ones who killed my brother, I will join al-Qaeda and fight against the Americans'' (''Villagers join al-Qaeda after deadly US strike'' December 27). How many more statements of this type will we be hearing? Quite a few, I would think.

John Boutagy Mosman

Bin there …

The most fascinating charity bins are the ones that once were (Letters, December 27). You know, the ones that were there, say, five or so years ago but have been removed. The power of the mind is amazing; imagination is certainly powerful. Some people actually don't need a bin to dump their donated rubbish. If it was, it must mean it still is.

Bernadette Scadden Earlwood

Not so merry

I can just imagine the look of surprise on the face of the high-rise occupant who, after carrying up the first couple of cartons of booze for their Christmas gathering, came back down for the rest only to find it had been taken by the garbos (Letters, December 27).

Alicia Dawson Balmain

Naming rights

The greatest tribute his colleagues gave John Mackinolty was in his nickname, ''Sweet Reason'' (''Honourable man of the left'', December 27).